By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs accused a witness at his sex trafficking trial on Thursday of falsely testifying that the hip-hop mogul held her over the balcony of a Los Angeles apartment, and suggested Combs was on the East Coast at the time of the alleged attack.
Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, testified on Wednesday that Combs in September 2016 held her over the rail of the balcony at Ventura’s apartment and then threw her onto the balcony’s furniture, causing her bruises.
Prosecutors say the incident was among several violent acts that Combs, 55, took against Ventura and people close to her during the decade he was coercing Ventura to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to five counts including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Bongolan had not stated the exact date of the alleged balcony attack during her testimony on Wednesday.
Jurors on Wednesday saw a picture Bongolan took of a bruise on her leg taken on September 26, 2016. A civil lawsuit Bongolan filed against Combs last year said the incident took place “on or about September 26, 2016.”
On Thursday, Combs’ lawyer Nicole Westmoreland asked Bongolan if she was aware that Combs performed at a concert in New Jersey on September 25, 2016 and attended an event in New York with Ventura the following day.
Westmoreland also showed jurors a document from the Trump International hotel in New York indicating that someone named “Frank Black” stayed there from September 24, 2016 through September 29, 2016. Previous witnesses at the trial have testified that Combs, like other celebrities, frequently used aliases when staying at hotels.
“You came in here and you lied to the ladies and gentlemen of this jury, didn’t you?” Westmoreland asked.
“I can’t agree with you,” Bongolan replied.
Under further questioning from prosecutor Madison Smyser, Bongolan said she did not know the exact date of the incident because it happened “a while ago,” but said she had no doubt it took place.
“I will never forget him holding me on that balcony,” Bongolan said.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York)
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